Judge rejects argument on federal tort in case over mailman pepper-spraying dog

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted December 5, 2023 11:37 AM

In a negligence case under the Federal Tort Claim Act about a mail carrier accused of routinely pepper-spraying a dog that was behind a locked gate — inadvertently causing respiratory illness in two children who regularly played with the pup — the government’s arguments about trespass-to-chattel and transferred intent posed “several difficult questions” under the FTCA’s intentional tort exception.The government insisted the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the complaint’s allegations add up to battery under …

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